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Baseball notebook

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 18, 2002

Yanks' Rivera ready to come off DL by weekend

ST. PETERSBURG -- Yankees closer Mariano Rivera reported no problems after throwing 31 pitches in batting practice Tuesday and could be activated from the disabled list by this weekend.

Rivera, who has been sidelined by a strained shoulder, is scheduled to throw in the bullpen Thursday and might be activated before the three-game weekend series at Detroit.

"He'll take tomorrow off, have some mound work Thursday, and then we'll probably be able to put him in a game," New York manager Joe Torre said Tuesday.

It was the first time Rivera has thrown on consecutive days since last month. He threw off a bullpen mound Monday at Yankee Stadium.

"I feel real good physically," Rivera said.

The All-Star was put on the disabled list for the third time this season Aug. 19. Before this season, Rivera had been disabled once.

"There's no uncertainty coming from him," Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said. "This was another good day, a very good day."

Also, tickets for the three AL Division Series and four League Championship Series games that could be played at Yankee Stadium will go on sale at noon Friday. Tickets for all seven potential games will be available at the stadium box office, New York area Ticketmaster locations, the team's Web site at www.yankees.com and by calling Ticketmaster. Fans can buy up to four tickets per game.

MINOR LEAGUES: Ending the longest Triple-A affiliation in baseball, the Rochester Red Wings parted with the Orioles and signed a two-year agreement to become the top farm team of the Twins.

The move ended 42 years with the Orioles as the Red Wings' parent club. Before that, Rochester spent 33 seasons as a Cardinals farm team.

Meanwhile, the Yankees moved their Double-A team from Norwich, Conn., agreeing to a four-year deal with the Trenton Thunder. The Yankees ended a seven-year affiliation with Norwich, which hopes to affiliate with another team.

JAPAN LEAGUE: Alex Cabrera, formerly of the Diamondbacks, hit his 52nd homer, leaving him three shy of tying the Japanese single-season record. Seibu has 17 games left.

AWARD FINALISTS: Tampa's Luis Gonzalez and Fred McGriff joined Torii Hunter, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and John Smoltz as finalists for the Marvin Miller man of the year award, to be presented by the players' association.

BREWERS: Outfielder Ryan Thompson tore a tendon in his right hamstring and will miss the rest of the season.

DIAMONDBACKS: Infielder Craig Counsell is scheduled to have neck surgery today, ending his season.

GIANTS: Lon Simmons, 79, who has called games in the San Francisco Bay area for the past four decades, said he will retire at the end of the season. Simmons, known for his signature "Tell it goodbye" home run call, started with the team in 1958 after it moved from New York.

METS: In a restructuring of executive officers after the sale of the team to Fred Wilpon, Wilpon was named chairman and chief executive officer in the newly created office of the chairman. His longtime partner Saul Katz will be president and his son, Jeff Wilpon, will be executive vice president and chief operating officer.

ROCKIES: An MRI on left-hander Denny Neagle showed floating bodies in his pitching elbow, but he is expected to start as scheduled Saturday. The team expects to decide today whether left-hander Mike Hampton, who has a strained ligament in his right foot, will make his scheduled Friday start.

TIGERS: Doctors found bone chips in right-hander Oscar Henriquez's elbow and scheduled season-ending surgery for this morning.

TWINS: Two outfielders were hurt against Detroit. Torii Hunter left in the sixth with a bruised left arm after being hit by a pitch, and Jacque Jones came out in the seventh after injuring his left ankle during an awkward slide into second. X-rays of Hunter's arm were negative, and his status is day to day. Jones was able to walk off the field.

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